Swimwear and method of manufacture

ABSTRACT

A swimsuit garment ( 10, 42, 58, 74 ) is constructed of a single piece of knit material characterized by having high stretchability so as to fit a wide range of wearer sizes and yet remaining comfortable. In manufacture, the swimsuit is cut from a material blank and is seamless with the cut edge remaining free from hemming or other finishing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The invention described herein pertains generally to swimwear, and, more particularly, to swimwear that can be manufactured with optimal cost effectiveness enabling disposable use.

[0003] 2. Description of Field of Application

[0004] A not uncommon situation that has occurred at least once to most individuals, and more than once to many, has been finding on arrival at a trip destination that the bathing suit has been left home. To remedy the situation, typically a suit is bought at a resort, for example, at an exorbitant price and no doubt of a design that is at best merely acceptable, but not totally what one would have desired. Some individuals, when queried, have indicated that they have a number of swimsuits at home, and yet they still fail to bring one along, especially if the trip is quickly decided upon.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] It is a primary object and aim of the present invention to provide a swimsuit and method of making the same which accommodates a large range of body sizes and at optimal cost effectiveness.

[0006] Another object is the provision of a swimsuit brought to finished usable condition without the necessity of interconnecting by such means as sewing, finishing edges, or the like.

[0007] Yet another object is the cutting of a swim garment in one-piece from a stretchable fabric that can accommodate a wide range of women's sizes.

[0008] Still another object is the cutting of one-piece textile items from a textile blank, which items can be utilized as clothing without need of further retention means.

[0009] In accordance with the practice of the present invention an item of clothing is formed from a single piece or blank of a highly stretchable material that when maximally stretched is not uncomfortable to the wearer. The item of clothing includes not only body covering portions but also straps for being tied together or coacting with slits or other openings to effect removable securement of the clothing item about a human body. It is contemplated that the described clothing item and method of manufacture can be most advantageously employed to make a female swimsuit of either the one-piece or two-piece category.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0010] These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the attached drawings in which:

[0011]FIG. 1 is a plan view of a one-piece swimsuit of the invention;

[0012]FIG. 2 depicts the swimsuit of FIG. 1 as worn by an individual;

[0013]FIGS. 3A and 3B are respectively a plan view of the bottom half of a two-piece swimsuit of the invention and the same shown folded for wearing;

[0014]FIGS. 4A and 4B respective are a plan view of the top half of a two-piece swimsuit of the invention and the same as assembled during wear;

[0015]FIG. 5 depicts the two-piece swimsuit of FIGS. 3 and 4 as worn by an individual;

[0016]FIGS. 6A and 6B show an alternative embodiment of top half garment constructed in accordance with the invention; and

[0017]FIG. 7 shows in plan view a design of a swimsuit lower half of the invention laid out on a textile blank prior to cutting removal during manufacture.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] With reference now to the drawings and, particularly, FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a one-piece women's bathing suit 10 made in accordance with the present invention. The bathing suit is constructed from a single blank of homogeneous preferably knit textile material to be described in detail later having a first desired characteristic of stretchability. The suit includes a seamless bottom half unit 12 with a somewhat triangular stomach panel 14, and a rear panel 16 integrally joined with panel 14 via a crotch panel 17. First and second connection strips 18 and 20 extend transversely away from respective opposite sides of the stomach panel 14. Third and fourth connection strips 22 and 24 extend transversely from respectively opposite sides of rear panel 16. Preferably, strips 18 and 20 are located along a straight line 26 generally parallel to line 28 through the approximate center of the crotch panel 17, lines 26 and 28 intersecting the vertical centerline 30 of the suit at 90-degrees. Similarly, strips 22 and 24 extend along a straight line generally parallel to lines 28 and 26.

[0019] On wearing assembly, the stomach, crotch and rear panels are placed against the corresponding parts of the anatomy and strips 18-22 and 20-24 being tied together and located against the upper hips as shown in FIG. 2. Optionally, strips 18 and 20 may be tied together as well as the strips 22 and 24.

[0020] With reference still to FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper half 32 of the swimsuit 10 includes a central panel 34 of such extent as to cover the upper torso region and part of the forward areas of each side. Also, first and second arm members 36 and 38 extend upwardly and slightly outwardly from the central panel 34. First and second slits 40 and 42 are formed in the respective arm members for receiving the arms therethrough during use.

[0021] Although other materials may be found useful in making the present invention, best results to date have been obtained by making the described swimsuit from a knit material constructed of 92% polyester and 8% spandex (additionally, the product sold by the Dupont Company under the registered trademark Lycra may be used instead of spandex). Swimsuits made of this material for a women's size 2 not only are stretchable without splitting or tearing to accommodate an adult size 14, and can do so without producing such reactive pressure as to make, say, a size 14 individual uncomfortable. Although the above-described combination of materials has been found to be excellent for present purposes, other suitable knit or woven materials may be found suitable such as individual or combinations of materials selected from the group:

[0022] polyester, spandex, Lycra, and nylon.

[0023] To wear the swimsuit garment 10, the arms are inserted through the slits 40 and 42 and the rear panel 16 is passed between the legs from the front and pulled up into place. The strips 18, 20, 22 and 24 are then tied together as already described, one example of which is shown in FIG. 2.

[0024] For a two-piece swimsuit of the invention, reference is now made to FIGS. 3A and 3B where the lower half 42 of the swimsuit is seen to be shaped similarly to the lower half 12 of the first described one-piece suit except separated from the top half. That is, the lower half 42 has a generally triangular front or stomach panel 44 integral with the crotch panel 46, which is, in turn, unitary with a rear panel 48. Transversely extending connection strips 50 and 52 are integral with the front panel 44 and strips 54 and 56 extend from opposite sides of rear panel 48. Securement of the lower half 42 to the body during wearing is accomplished by tying strip 50 to strip 54, and strip 52 to strip 56 FIG. 5, or, alternatively, tying 50 to 52 and 54 to 56 about the body.

[0025] The entire upper or top half 58 of a first version of a two-piece swimsuit shown in FIG. 4A includes a unitary generally rectangular textile body member 60 having a long dimension L and a transverse shorter dimension D. Along one of the long edges, first and second strips 62 and 64, preferably of approximately the same length, are formed by cutting into the body member 60 from each of the small ends a limited extent parallel to the long dimension L. These strips are of a length that enable the outer end portions to be tied together around the neck and the opposite fixed ends of the strips terminate adjacent each breast of the wearer (FIG. 5). Each of the small ends of D dimension additionally has a rectangular portion of textile material removed leaving a pair of spaced apart strips at each end, namely 66,68 and 70,72. In final wearing assembly, strips 62 and 64 are tied together about the neck, whereas strips 66, 68, 70 and 72 are tied together as desired, with the tied portions being located at the back (FIG. 4B and FIG. 5).

[0026] For an alternative version of and upper half garment 74 of the invention, reference is now made to FIGS. 6A and 6B. The overall garment is cut from a single piece of material and includes a generally oval center portion 76 that tapers from a maximum at approximately the garment center 77 down to integral tying strips 78 and 80 located at opposite sides and extending generally horizontally. Further strips 82 and 84 are formed by shallow cut lines 86 and 88 formed parallel to the top edge and both terminating short of the garment center 77. By tying strips 78 and 80 together about the body and strips 82 and 84 about the neck, the garment serves its purpose as the top half of a two-piece bathing suit. Turning now to FIG. 7 for the description of the method of manufacture, a given swimsuit part (e.g., lower half 42) is cut out from a blank 86 of a knit textile material of desired characteristics along the dotted line and is immediately available for use without sewing, providing edges or adding such things as buttons or snaps.

[0027] Accordingly, the swimsuit is optimally inexpensive because of the vast reduction in labor and materials normally encountered in other typical garment manufacturing processes. In fact, swimsuits constructed as described are sufficiently cost effective as to enable discarding after a single wearing.

[0028] In the practice of the present invention there is provided a seamless swimsuit, either one-piece or two-piece, each piece or part of which consists solely of a single unitary textile material sheet cut to desired shape with the wearing integrity being provided by integral strips of the textile material being tied together. Moreover, the textile material possesses excellent stretchability characteristics so that the described swimsuit can accommodate a wide range of body sizes, and, at the same time, not make an individual of a relatively large body size be made uncomfortable by an excessively tight-fitting feeling.

[0029] Illustrative of swimsuit dimensions in the unstressed or smallest size (e.g., size 2) and with reference to FIG. 1, the overall length from topmost point to the bottom edge is 36 inches; from the strips 18 and 20 to the topmost edge of the arm portions 36 and 38 is 13.5 inches; the arm slits 40 and 42 are 6 inches long; the crotch panel width is 2.5 inches; and the overall length across strips 18 and 20 (as well across 22 and 24) is 28 inches. The dimensions of the lower half of the two-piece swimsuit shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B the dimensions can be directly taken from those just given for FIG. 1. For the upper half garment 58 of FIG. 4A, L is 34 inches; D is 8 inches; each strip 62 and 64 14.5 inches long and 0.5 inches wide; and the strips 66-72 are each 1.25 inches wide.

[0030] Although the present invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that one skilled in the appertaining arts could make modifications that come within the spirit of the invention described and within the ambit of the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A swimsuit garment, comprising: a one-piece seamless extent of a knit textile material cut from a blank of material into a predetermined geometry including complementary strips for being hand-tied together to aid in securing the garment in place when worn, the cut edge of the garment being a raw edge free of finishing or hemming.
 2. A swimsuit garment as in claim 1, in which the textile material has sufficient stretchability to enable one constructed size of the garment to comfortably fit an extended range of women's sizes.
 3. A swimsuit garment as in claim 2, in which the textile material has sufficient stretchability to comfortably fit an individual in the size range extending from women's size 2 through
 14. 4. A swimsuit garment as in claim 2, in which the textile material is a combination of polyester and spandex (Lycra).
 5. A swimsuit garment as in claim 2, in which the textile material is selected from the group consisting of polyester, spandex, Lycra, nylon.
 6. A swimsuit garment as in claim 1, in which the garment includes first and second arm members with respective first and second slits for receiving the arms therethrough.
 7. A swimsuit garment as in claim 1, in which the complementary strips are provided for tying securement in the waist region of a wearer.
 8. A swimsuit having a first upper-half garment and a second lower-half garment, comprising: each garment being constructed of a one-piece seamless extent of material cut from a blank of knit material into a predetermined shape for the respective garment including complementary strips for being hand-tied together to secure the said garment in place when worn, the cut edge of the said garment being a raw edge free of hemming or finishing; said upper-half garment being of generally band-shaped geometry for receipt about the upper part of a wearer's body with first and second complementary pairs of strips integral with respective opposite end portions for mutual tying engagement and a third pair of strips for receipt and tying engagement about the neck of a wearer; and said lower-half garment including first and second pairs of strips for tying engagement to secure the said lower-half garment about a wearer.
 9. A swimsuit as in claim 8, in which the upper-half garment is generally rectangular having a long dimension for receipt about the chest when worn and a lesser width dimension with two spaced apart strips extending from each respective outer edge.
 10. A swimsuit as in claim 8, in which the upper-half garment is elongated and oval with a long dimension sufficient to extend about the upper body of a wearer and the oval having a maximum width located substantially at the center of the front of the wearer's body, and said oval narrowing down to provide first and second tying strips at opposite narrow sides of the garment, and further having third and fourth strips integral with an upper edge of the garment for tying about the wearer's neck.
 11. A one-piece women's swimsuit for accommodating sizes 2-14 without adjustment, comprising: a single unitary extent of a textile material selected from the group consisting of polyester, spandex, Lycra, nylon cut from a textile blank into a design configuration with the cut edge being free of finishing or hemming; said predetermined design configuration including an upper half with a central panel for covering the upper torso region, forward areas of each side of a wearer, and first and second arm members with first and second respective slits therein; a seamless bottom half with a stomach panel, rear panel and crotch panel; and when the swimsuit is extended out forming a flat unstressed plane it has the following approximate dimensions: 36 inches from a topmost edge to a lowermost edge; the arm slits are each 6 inches long; and the crotch panel width is 2.5 inches. 